Nozzles for injecting liquid fuel into a cylinder of an engine and mixing the fuel with a gas in the cylinder are well known. Conventional nozzles typically employ one or more single dimensional discharge orifices, usually of circular cross section, which interact with liquid flowing through the orifice to produce a single vena contracta downstream of the nozzle in a lower pressure zone to facilitate mixing of the fuel and the gas. Nozzles currently in use not only include the pintle type for producing a circular spray, but also include annular rings, jets, fluted jets, opposing jets, and a lip-nozzle, some of which produce a single vena contracta.
For maximum power and fuel economy, it is essential that the fuel be introduced into the combustion chamber of a cylinder in such manner that it is completely consumed without producing smoke and unburned hydrocarbons. A nozzle constructed in accordance with the invention provides a uniform distribution of fuel into a combustion chamber and produces multiple vena contracta downstream from the nozzle, thereby providing substantially better mixing of the fuel and gas in the combustion chamber and, consequently, more complete combustion of the fuel.